Are you a “socially dangerous pre-criminal?”

Posted on October 30, 2018

You never know. If you lived in Cuba you just might be. That’s the ridiculous charge the communist regime pinned on Christian rights activist Misael Diaz Paseiro.
 
A year ago, Paseiro, who’s a member of the Orlando Zapata Tamayo Civic Resistance Front (not too sure what their specific mission is… ?), was arrested on charges of “pre-criminal social dangerousness.”
 
MisaelDiazPaseiro

Authorities forced their way into Misael’s home where they confiscated two Bibles, crucifixes and rosaries. He was badly beaten by Cuba’s political police on November 4, 2017.
 
Watchdog Christian Solidarity Worldwide reported that Misael was told by the police:
 
“Misael, in addition to being a counter-revolutionary, you are also a Christian,” the police said.
 
“You should look at us, we are revolutionaries and we don’t believe in your God. Our god is Fidel Castro.”

 

Deliverance for Misael, and other victims of Cuba’s persecution, may be on the way. Unlike his totalitarian-friendly predecessor, Donald Trump is not impressed with Cuba’s oppressive government, specifically their tyrannical practice of imprisoning political dissidents ~ US: Cuba’s political prisoners are “affront” to democracy ~

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — (10-15-18) The United States says Cuba is jailing 130 political prisoners in a “blatant affront” to fundamental democratic freedoms, but the Cuban ambassador to the United Nations said Monday that the U.S. lacks the moral authority to teach other countries such lessons given what she calls the Trump administration’s “agenda of supremacist, racist and xenophobic ideas.”

 
On Tuesday, October 16th, the U.S. introduced a new campaign at the U.N. – “Jailed for What?” (# PresosPorQué) – intended to hold Cuba’s regime responsible for human rights violations ~

The initiative… recognizes the estimated 130 political prisoners by the Cuban government and affirms that these prisoners are “an explicit sign of the repressive nature of the regime and represent a flagrant affront to the fundamental freedoms that the United States and many other democratic governments. ”

 
JailedforWhatcampaign 
The Cuban U.N. delegation threw a fit when U.S. envoy to the U.N. Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) Kelley Currie made the official announcement. Here’s an excerpt from her remarks ~

A few weeks ago, Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel came here to the United Nations and painted a rosy picture of his country as a paragon of solidarity, democracy, and human rights. But to the more than five thousand Cubans who were arbitrarily detained for political reasons in 2017, this is a sick joke.
 
More and more, Cuban repression relies on raids of activists’ homes and offices, short-term detentions, and public denunciations known as “repudio.”
 
At the same time, reputable NGOs report that well over 100 Cubans currently languish in jails or under house arrest as political prisoners. The Cuban government tried, convicted, and sentenced many on arbitrary charges like “contempt” of Cuban authorities or “pre-criminal social dangerousness” – bogus legal constructs meant to deny human beings of their most basic rights to free thought and expression […]
 
Cuba’s political prisoners are an explicit sign of the repressive nature of the regime and represent a blatant affront to the fundamental freedoms that the United States and many other democratic governments support, and that are enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The urgency of this injustice is exemplified by the grave state of health of Cuban democratic activist Tomas Nunez Magdariaga, who spent 62 days on a hunger strike in protest of his unjust imprisonment. We welcome his long overdue release and return home.

 
JailedforWhat 

So much for civility. Much of Currie’s speech had to be delivered over loud protestations and tantrums ~

Protesting Cuban and Bolivian diplomats shouted, chanted and banged their hands on desks. “I have never in my life seen diplomats behave the way that the Cuban delegation did today. It was really shocking and disturbing,” Currie told reporters. “You can understand very well why people feel afraid to speak their minds … with this kind of government, this kind of thuggish behavior,” she said. “It has no place here in the United Nations.”

 
Undaunted by the interruptions Currie continued with her remarks ~

President Trump is taking action to hold the Cuban regime responsible for its human rights violations and supporting the Cuban people’s aspirations to live in freedom.
 
Today, we come to the United Nations to remind the world that today, in Cuba, there are political prisoners. They come from all over Cuba, these men and women – activists, lawyers, workers, from different faiths and walks of life.
 
They are united in their quest to speak out for a better, freer, more democratic Cuba for themselves and their children. And their imprisonment is not only a violation of the fundamental freedoms all of us cherish, but it is also a human tragedy […]
 
The “Jailed for What” campaign will draw attention to the cases of specific political prisoners.
 
We urge our partners to join with us in calling on the Government of Cuba to release all political prisoners.
 
Many Member States in the United Nations call themselves friends of Cuba. The United States is proud to call ourselves friends of the Cuban people.

 
Our State Department is getting behind this effort on Twitter, naming various prisoners and detailing the bogus charges against them ~

Here’s something you didn’t see from the State Department during the eight years of the Obama administration: The U.S. clearly and powerfully speaking out in support and defense of Cuba’s political prisoners.


More tweets HERE.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 
This is a such a ray of – dare I say – real hope and change for the repressed Cuban people! Unlike the feckless approach of our previous administration, under President Trump the U.S. is actually standing up to communist bullies.
 
And the very fact that the progressive mainstreams ignored this story, tells you everything you need to know about how they really feel about human rights violations. Rather than celebrating this as an advancement for true freedom for Cuba, they want us to believe Trump is the fascist. It’s the Left’s increasingly totalitarian mindset that’s truly frightening.
 
A charge of “pre-criminal social dangerousness” sounds like – as Babalu Blog points out – a Monty Python joke. But if the Left gets back in power here in America they’ll probably start locking up conservatives for that very crime.
 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Related:
Is the US morphing into Cuba? No worries, God wins in the end!
Christian rights activist in Cuba arrested after his Bibles are confiscated

Haley demands UN punish Cuba, Bolivia after ‘mob scene’ and pay for damage
Cuba startled at U.S. move to redirect UN embargo resolution to spotlight Havana’s rights abuses ~ Shocker – The U.S. initiative may actually receive some support from the entire assembly ~

“For the first time in more than a decade, the United Nations will now consider a draft resolution focusing on the oppression of the Cuban people by its own dictatorial regime,” said Hillel Neuer, executive director of the Geneva-based UN Watch, a non-governmental human rights group that has been a leading voice at the world body for Cuban dissidents.

Posted in Good vs.Evil, Unvarnished | Leave a comment

Dems hoping their new constituents reach the border in time to vote

Posted on October 29, 2018

With the midterm election just days away, the progressive media hasn’t been very interested on keeping tabs on the caravan of illegal aliens making their way to our southern border. Weird huh? But the migrant mob is definitely still on the move.
 
IllegalMigrationPathLast Friday, Mexico’s president actually tried to entice them into staying in his country. Calling his plan “Estas en Tu Casa,” Spanish for “This is Your Home,” President Enrique Peña Nieto outlined the terms ~

For migrants who agree to the plan, they would receive medical care, some limited housing, and temporary identification and work permits. But, they would have to agree to stay in the southern regions of Mexico and abandon their plan to arrive at the U.S. border. […]
 
“This plan is only for those who comply with Mexican laws,” he explained, “and it’s a first step towards a permanent solution for those who are granted refugee status in Mexico.”

 
Unfortunately, there weren’t many takers. Following the law is a little problematic? Here’s an update as of yesterday, from the Gateway Pundit ~

Over 100 Mexican federal officers had temporarily halted the caravan to let them know of the offer, but allowed the swarm of roughly 7,000 people to continue heading to the US on Saturday when they declined.
 
The caravan is currently halted approximately 1,000 miles from the US border, however, as they search for a missing child that they believe may have been kidnapped.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Why are most Democrats trying to avoid discussing the advancing horde? Tucker Carlson shares a little lesson on the history of illegal immigration and the leftist duplicity on this contentious issue ~
 

Video via PragerU

Historically, Democrats supported strong borders because they knew American workers could never compete with illegal immigrants. Now, they regularly support “open borders.” So why the drastic change? Tucker Carlson, host of Tucker Carlson Tonight, explains.

 

The mainstreams aren’t reporting on the migrant caravan because polls show most Americans don’t want them admitted. In fact, the majority of Americans want stronger border security. But now we know why Democrats don’t.
 
Pay no attention to that mob headed toward the border…
 
BorderInvasion2 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Related:
Invasion of the Country Snatchers ~

Congressional Democrats are apparently fine with catch-and-release policies because they see the likely electoral benefits. According to Customs and Border Protection (CPB), of the 94,285 Central American family units apprehended last year, 99 percent of them remain in the country today. CPB also reports that 98 percent of the 31,754 unaccompanied minors from the Northern Triangle of Central America remain in the country.
 
It was Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) who backed the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act that prevents the speedy return of unaccompanied minors from non-contiguous countries. The Clinton-era Flores Settlement Agreement further hinders the government’s ability to detain and remove alien family units.
 
No country can maintain its character and purpose if it has what amounts to open borders. A common language is lost, there are fewer incentives to assimilate and immigrants can bring with them their own agendas and objectives. The hyphenating of various ethnic groups is proof enough that they seem to be less willing to be called simply Americans.

 

Immigrants! Don’t Vote for What You Fled ~ Another enlightening video from PragerU

Posted in Unvarnished | Leave a comment

Early Christian church discovered… in a Turkish lake

Posted on October 28, 2018

The First Council of Nicaea, organized by Emperor Constantine in 325, was held in the town it took its name from, Nicaea. At that time part of the Roman Empire, the location in modern day Turkey is now called Iznik. Recently, evidence of the 4th century Christian presence in that area was discovered – underwater ~

About two hours from Istanbul (itself once known as Constantinople), Iznik sits on the shore of a green lake of the same name. Back in 2014, government surveyors using drones captured photos of a strange structure sitting just below the lake’s murky surface. They showed these photos to Mustafa Sahin, head of archaeology at Bursa Uladag University, who quickly realized what he was looking at: a church.
 
Nicea-churchruins 
But this wasn’t just any church. Historical records tell us it was built sometime in the fourth century, in honor of St. Neophytus, a sixteen-year-old Christian boy who was tortured to death there in the year 303, under the Emperor Diocletian.
 
The dedication of this church to a martyr was no accident. Just a few years prior to its construction, Emperor Constantine had issued the Edict of Milan, declaring an end to Roman persecution against Christians and setting the stage for the underground church to go public.

Source: Breakpoint

 
Nicea-churchruins2

Aerial photographs commissioned by the government of the Bursa Province in Turkey revealed the remarkable outline of a church submerged in Lake Iznik, near ancient Nicea. It is located in only 10 feet of water, about 160 feet from shore. Archaeologists believe the church may have been built on the site of the former Senate Palace, where the first Council of Nicea took place in 325 AD. Underwater excavations have revealed several graves dating to the fourth century underneath the basilica’s main wall which included coins dating to the reign of Emperor Valens (364-378 AD).
 
There is evidence that an earlier pagan temple to Apollo might lie beneath the church. Plans are being made for the construction of an underwater museum that would include a walkway over the submerged church and an underwater glass room in the nave of the basilica.

Source: Associates for Biblical Research

 

Constantine, the first emperor to convert to Christianity arranged the council primarily to settle a critical dispute among the 4th century Christian community. The central issue under contention was the nature of the relationship between God the Father and God the Son. While the entire assembly agreed upon the divinity of Jesus Christ, a minority faction didn’t hold that the Father and Son were of the same substance; both truly God. With Constantine presiding over the assembly, the majority prevailed and the Nicene Creed was adopted.
 
In addition to the creedal decision – the first uniform Christian doctrine – Nicea was notable as the very first “ecumenical” council. A couple hundred bishops attended, representing the vast majority of the Christian world at that time.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Nicene Creed
 
I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.
 
And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds; God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God; begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made.
 
Who, for us men and for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary, and was made man; and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate; He suffered and was buried; and the third day He rose again, according to the Scriptures; and ascended into heaven, and sits on the right hand of the Father; and He shall come again, with glory, to judge the quick and the dead; whose kingdom shall have no end.
 
And I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of Life; who proceeds from the Father and the Son; who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified; who spoke by the prophets.
 
And I believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church. I acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins; and I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.

 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Related:
Ancient Church Hidden in Turkish Lake. And a Pagan Temple May Lie Beneath It. ~ Live Science article explains the historical significance of the find
 
Associates for Biblical Research ~ Great site to learn about on all the latest archeological discoveries confirming Biblical history

Posted in Comfort & Joy, Unvarnished | Leave a comment

Saturday Shorts – 10-27-18

Posted on October 27, 2018

sshorts10-26-13

Random links of interest, concern or curiosity from the past week or so, that deserve at least a SHORT mention:

 
Real-World Examples of How the Minimum Wage Harms Workers ~ Simply put, minimum wage laws destroy the jobs low-income workers need ~

If lawmakers pass a law mandating wages of $10 per hour, that is going to have a very bad effect on low-skilled workers who can only generate, say, $8 of revenue per hour […]
 
(B)usinesses aren’t charities. They hire workers to increase profits, so it’s unavoidable that we get bad results when government mandates result in some workers costing more than the revenue they generate.

 
Adopt An Illegal Alien ~ Here’s an exciting opportunity for the progressive open-borders crowd to practice what they preach 😀 ~

We want to place illegal aliens in the homes of loving, caring, compassionate Democrats. Racist Republicans care about the security of our country and the safety of our citizens! We need to fight this bigotry and start adopting illegal aliens!

 

Non-Functioning Bombs and Double Standards ~ Why do leftists refuse to own the violence on their side of the political aisle?

Remember that the Democratic National Committee has officially endorsed the violent Black Lives Matter movement and that more than a few Democrats support the Antifa terrorist movement. Hillary Clinton’s failed 2016 running-mate, Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), whose son Woody is an Antifa terrorist, said recently that Democrats need to “fight in the streets” against Republicans […]
 
Both Joe Biden and Robert DeNiro have said they want to beat Trump up physically […]
 
Since Trump announced he was seeking the presidency, there have been at least 600 violent incidents or incidents of harassment aimed at Trump and those associated with him, according to a running tally compiled by Breitbart News.

 
At Bill Signing, Trump Vows to Make ‘Extremely Big Dent’ in Opioid Crisis ~ Overshadowed by the bomber story, on Wednesday the president signed bipartisan legislation aimed at combating opioid abuse ~

Trump signed the bipartisan SUPPORT (Substance Use-Disorder Prevention that Promotes Opioid Recovery and Treatment) for Patients and Communities Act, which passed the Senate this month on a vote of 98-1. The package of opioid-related measures expands access to substance-abuse care and improves oversight of opioid prescriptions.

 

An American Journalist Just Died After a Racist Beating, and the Washington Post Didn’t Even Report It ~ The mainstreams’ concern for the fellow journalists is awfully selective. Before the pipe-bombs showed up they were all over the Jamal Khashoggi murder. But this story was barely a blip on their radar ~

Jerry Wolkowitz, a longtime EMT, photojournalist and son of Jewish Holocaust survivors who was the victim of a vicious racially-motivated attack, has died at age 56 after nearly six months on life support […]
 
Wolkowitz was a freelance journalist and photographer for numerous publications including the Asbury Park Press. He was also an EMT and ambulance driver and volunteer with the Freehold First Aid and Rescue Squad.

 
Dr. Patrick Michaels on the truth about global warming ~ Very interesting transcript from Life, Liberty and Levin last Sunday when Mark spoke with Patrick Michaels, a senior fellow in environmental studies at the Cato Institute (Video). Key points: 1) the climate is warming at an infinitesimal rate; and 2) alarmists are using bad data in their computer modeling resulting in bad predictions ~

The computer models are making systematic, dramatic errors over the entire tropics which is 40 percent of the earth, and it’s where all our moisture comes from or almost all of it […]
 
There are 32 families of computer models that are used by the United Nations, each government sponsored. And all of them are predicting far, far too much warming.

Which essentially means, as Levin sums up ~

(W)e have a massive bit of public policy (EPA regulations) that has enormous effect on society that’s built on – I’ll use my words, phony models.

 
Iranians Caught Posing As Americans On Facebook To Hype Mueller Investigation, Slam Trump And Kavanaugh ~ While they’re censoring American conservatives, at least the social media giant is silencing some Islamists as well ~

Facebook on Friday deleted 82 pages, groups and accounts that it determined were part of an online influence operation located in Iran […]
 
The pages had over a combined 1 million followers and the groups had more than 25,000 members, Gleicher said.
 
Facebook provided several examples of the Iranian propaganda, which promoted former National Football League (NFL) quarterback Colin Kaepernick’s activism while criticizing President Donald Trump and Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

 
‘Green’ Killing Fields: Wind Turbines Responsible for Massive & Unnecessary Bird Slaughter ~ 🙁

Bird life across the globe could be facing its worst nightmare in the 21st century because of mankind’s ardent love for wind turbines. Despite the outright denial of renewable enthusiasts, data from across the globe suggests that bird life is in great peril due to wind factories.

 
Jim Jones & Harvey Milk: The Secret History ~ Hard to believe it’s been 40 years since the Jonestown mass suicide tragedy and Milk’s assassination. A new book from Daniel J. Flynn shatters the widely-accepted images of these two men and the narratives surrounding their deaths ~

Flynn reveals that Jones was in fact a socialist fanatic who, far from the theological and cultural fringes, was a key player in left-wing San Francisco politics. Flynn also shows that Milk was an opportunist and a showboater who was willing to use extremist rhetoric — and in one case, indulge in outing — to advance his political career. His assassin was not a homicidal homophobe, but a hotheaded former political ally furious over Milk’s political betrayal.
 
And, most bizarrely of all, Milk and Jones were friends and allies. That was the kind of place San Francisco was in the 1970s, says Flynn.

 
Dozens of Christians Killed in Muslim Attack on Market in Kaduna State, Nigeria ~ Religion of Peace strikes again in Nigeria ~

“A Muslim raised a false alarm about a thief in the market, which caused stampede, and then other Muslims started chanting ‘Allahu Akbar [the jihadist slogan, God is Greater],’ attacking Christians, burning houses and shops belonging to Christians in the town,” area resident Kefas Mallam told Morning Star News.

 

Support Coach Joe Kennedy ~ Washington state high school football coach Joe Kennedy was fired from his coaching job in 2015 for praying on the 50-yard line after games. The lower courts have sided with the school district so he’s now appealing to the Supreme Court ~

What’s happening to Coach Kennedy – and millions of people of faith – is the result of religious hostility unlike any we’ve seen before. Today, we live in a time when radical opponents – and even government officials – seek to silence, censor, and even punish religious expression.

Please sign THIS PETITION asking SCOTUS to take Kennedy’s case.

Posted in Everything Else | Leave a comment

Real bomb threats? Or the latest Leftist campaign strategy?

Posted on October 25, 2018

Updated: 10-27-18

 
Ok, ok, I’m big enough to admit when I’m wrong. I did say this two days ago ~
CesarSayoc

…it’s highly unlikely that real perp will turn out to be some deranged psycho in a MAGA hat.

 

Oct. 26, 2018 – Cesar Sayoc was arrested by federal authorities in Florida on Friday morning and charged with crimes related to sending 13 apparently homemade pipe bombs to high-profile Democrats ~

Sayoc was a registered Republican and, the evidence suggests, an obsessive Trump supporter. A van believed to be his is emblazoned with Trump stickers, his social-media feeds contain attacks on the Democratic party often shared from fringe websites, and he apparently attended a Trump rally in Florida months ago.

 

In my defense though, who could have predicted Cesar Altieri Sayoc? I’m honestly starting to feel sorry for the guy. He’s better described as an unfortunate, unstable narcissist desperate for attention than a deranged psycho. I appealed to logic and reason in my original post, but it seems Sayoc is a bit far-removed from both.
 
SayocsVanWhat the facts tell us is that he’s a 56 year-old body-builder, longtime tribal casino employee (at least according to his own social media posts) and former male stripper with a criminal record (with arrests for bomb threats, grand theft, battery, fraud, drug possession and probation violations). And he may or may not have been living in his now-infamous van. In other words of course – according to the Left – a typical Trump supporter.
 
But there’s something that doesn’t quite ring true here. Attorney Daniel Aaronson, who’s represented Sayoc in the past, is a registered Democrat. He had this to say ~

“I am very proud of some of the people that were targeted,” and “if he had said anything along those lines, I certainly would have noted it, because we would have gotten into a political discussion.”

 
A post by Shad Olson (an internet radio show host) documents a puzzling trail of conflicting political affiliation ~

His 2016 posts offer a picture of someone trying equally hard to leave a mountainous muddy trail of his true political leanings…
including a years long apparent obsession with ISIS and the Syrian conflict, fixation with Vladimir Putin’s brutal dealings with ISIS in Syria and Iraq and a string of muddled posts that have either been edited post-hence, or were originally placed with no sensitivity to seemingly conflicted simultaneous imagery, praising for example feminist anti-Trump protestors AND Donald Trump in the same post […]
 
(S)crolling past 2016 to 2015 reveals Cesar Altieri Sayoc (Randazzo) as a hater of former President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney, evidenced by photos of Bush with blood on his hands and photos of Bush and Cheney portrayed as Nazi war criminals in best keeping with far leftist hate groups widely circulated portrayal of the Bush administration as war criminals. Are these the photos an average rabid, diehard, dyed in the #MAGA-wool, Trump supporter would sport on their page in 2015? Highly unlikely.

 

Furthermore a legitimate, reasonably-stable Trump supporter (no, that’s NOT an oxymoron) wouldn’t have gone ballistic like this two weeks prior to a critical election. Particularly when momentum was solidly in favor of Republicans. As Lloyd Billingsley at FrontPageMag wonders ~

Why would any Trump supporter send explosive devices that played directly into the Democrats’ narrative? At every opportunity, Democrats charge that Trump is responsible for the hostile climate in the nation, which produces acts such as those of which Sayoc is accused.

 
Which is what makes this whole episode so bewildering.
 
Sayoc apparently isn’t talking, so who knows. Maybe we’ll learn more about his motives… probably not.

~~~~~~~~~~~~
 

Original 10-15-18 post:

 

The UK Daily Mail has the latest on the elusive pipe bomber targeting America’s liberal elite ~

A total of 10 explosive devices had been seized by Thursday in an attack that politicians on both sides of the aisle have branded terrorism. The pipe bombs were sent to the likes of the Clintons, Obamas, Joe Biden and CNN.
 
MAGAhoaxbomber 
The pipe bomb sent to CNN featured an image of a parody ISIS flag popular on right-wing websites. Instead of featuring Arabic characters, the image contained the silhouette of three women, as well as comedian Larry the Cable Guy’s catchphrase ‘Get ‘Er Done’.
 
There are no details yet on why none of the packages exploded but the FBI had previously described them as ‘potentially destructive devices’.
 
Authorities described the devices as crude and said they were not treating them as hoax bombs, but some security experts have suggested their goal may have been to create fear rather than to kill.

 

I have a question for all you clear-thinking individuals out there – isn’t this all just a little too conveniently stereotypical of what the Left considers right-wing wacko behavior? You’ll note that, right on cue of course, the mainstreams are pinning the blame on Donald Trump and his “hateful rhetoric.” Andrew C. McCarthy at National Review comments on the glaring double-standards ~

There is plenty of media commentary at the moment about incivility, in the form of incendiary rhetoric and actions. This is entirely appropriate. But I’m at a loss to understand how the climate is improved by spicing up reports with thinly veiled suggestions that President Trump may have triggered a series of potentially murderous attacks on political opponents. When Bernie Sanders supporter James Hodgkinson opened fire on the Republicans he targeted and nearly killed Representative Steve Scalise, I don’t recall much Times speculation about whether he could have been set him off by Democrats urging their supporters to get aggressive — “get in their face”; “if they bring a knife, we bring a gun” — when dealing with political adversaries.

 

Using logic and some critical thinking skills I’d like to propose what seems to be the most likely bomber scenario. Play along with me here…

Say you have two major political parties – never mind their ideologies. Party A is affiliated with an organization that’s responsible for numerous acts of violence at various protests, and several of their leaders have advocated confrontational behavior toward the opposition. The majority of media voices are strong advocates for Party A’s agenda.
 
In the run-up to a hugely significant mid-term election, Party A is leading in the polls. Then, just a few weeks out, Party B starts to gain – and in some cases have the advantage. Party A is in a panic. What might they do to turn things around?
 
How about this ➡ Since A has long been mischaracterizing B as “radical,” “irate,” even “unhinged,” why not frame them with a staged faux-terror event and try to convince the entire country that they really are radical, irate and unhinged?
 
What about a fake bomb threat? Better yet – multiple fake bomb threats? Send a dozen devices to high profile figures who oppose Party B’s agenda (Make sure the bombs are impotent. For goodness sake, you don’t want to actually endanger any A elites). Then, hopefully, with the reliable assistance of the mainstream media, Party A will be able to convince the majority of the sheeple that the phony bombs really were the work of Party B’s “violent rhetoric,” thus ensuring a sweeping victory in November.
 
Conversely, why would anyone associated with Party B, which is up considerably in the polls, take such a provocative, counterproductive action less than two weeks before the election?

 

Given the facts and evidence thus far, it’s highly unlikely that real perp will turn out to be some deranged psycho in a MAGA hat.
 
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Related:

Pipe Bombs: Only for the Democrat elite ~ The People’s Cube with their trademark, cutting-edge analysis 😀 ~

Democrats challenged by Trump are receiving Presidential crude pipe bombs in the mail.
 
Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Shumer are still waiting for theirs to arrive, but are sure that like their government paycheck, the “check is in the mail.”
 
The FBI has already prepared the report of the multi-billion dollar investigation that it anticipates being requested to do, and will identify saliva on the stamps as 1/1024 of Russian origin.

Posted in MSM Malpractice, Pieces of My Mind | Leave a comment

On this day in American history…

Posted on October 24, 2018

On October 24th, 157 years ago, the first transcontinental telegraph line was completed, connecting the east coast with the west. Nearly eight years before the cross-country railroad was finished, it was a spectacular achievement for 1861. Construction (from the ends of the existing lines; Omaha, Nebraska and Carson City, Nevada) took about 6 months.
 
At the time, the quickest way to get a message from New York to California was via the Pony Express which ran from St. Joseph, Missouri to Sacramento (a ten day trip). Anxious for more timely cross-country communication, the federal government offered a subsidy of $40,000 a year (for ten years) to any company who could build and maintain the line across mountains, prairies, plains and deserts. The Western Union Telegraph Company accepted the challenge ~
 
WesternUniontelegraphline 

The obstacles were daunting. Wire, insulators, and other materials for the line’s western portion would be shipped around Cape Horn to San Francisco. Supplies would have to be pulled by ox team over the Sierra Nevada and Rocky Mountains. Vast stretches of plains contained “not a stick of timber in sight,” as one builder put it, so telegraph poles would have to be hauled hundreds of miles. On top of all that, the outbreak of the Civil War cast shadows of uncertainty on the project […]
 
On October 24, the work complete, Chief Justice of California Stephen J. Field, in San Francisco, sent the first transcontinental telegram to President Lincoln in Washington, D.C., The message assured Lincoln that the line “will be the means of strengthening the attachment which binds both East and West to the Union.”

Source: The American Patriot’s Almanac – William J. Bennett & John T.E. Cribb

 

In today’s era of rapid technological change it’s difficult to imagine that it once took weeks to communicate from one side of the country to the other. The transcontinental telegraph changed that overnight. We don’t always appreciate the amazing advances that happen almost daily now. But imagine what the builders of that first line would think of a text message traveling instantly through the atmosphere to the other side of the world – not to mention Skype!

Posted in Comfort & Joy | Leave a comment

Founding Wisdom [Flouted by the Foolish]

Posted on October 24, 2018

founders-quote-TJefferson
“Born in other countries, yet believing you could be happy in this, our laws acknowledge, as they should do, your right to join us in society, conforming, as I doubt not you will do, to our established rules.”
 
~ Thomas Jefferson

Posted in Timeless Principles | Leave a comment

Cleaning up Puerto Rico’s corruption mess in the wake of Hurricane Maria

Posted on October 23, 2018

After Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico last fall, San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz was a leftist rock star. The mainstreams’ favorite interviewee, she was regularly heard blaming most of the post-storm crisis on the Trump Administration.

“We are dying, and you (Trump) are killing us with the inefficiency and the bureaucracy,” she said during a television conference in early October.

 
mayorCruz

 
However, as many – including yours truly – pointed out at the time, the hurricane hit a country that was already in the throes of a fiscal meltdown. A crumbling infrastructure, the result of decades of government incompetence and corruption, resulted in an island ill-prepared for a natural disaster. So naturally, as an old supervisor of mine used to tell us: “Fail to plan; plan to fail.”
 

13 months ago is ancient history to the media, so when this ↓ story popped up last week, it was totally ignored (especially since it debunks their original anti-Trump narrative) ~ City Council Offices, Headed by San Juan Mayor, Have Been Raided by the FBI ~

Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz and her administration are under fire for allegedly obstructing critical supplies from reaching victims of the category-4 hurricane that leveled much of the tiny U.S. territory nearly nine months ago.
 
The FBI reportedly launched the investigation following a February lawsuit filed by Yadira Molina, the former director of procurement. Molina claims she was retaliated against for reporting “alleged irregular acts” to the local comptroller.

 
This appears to be just the latest development in an ongoing federal investigation. In other under-reported news – more than three months ago – there were actually a couple of actual arrests made ~ Puerto Rico mayor, two others arrested on corruption charges. This wasn’t Cruz, it was Miguel Ortiz, mayor of Sabana Grande ~

A mayor and two former government officials in Puerto Rico face public corruption charges in separate cases that involve a total of $8 million in federal and local funds, authorities said Thursday. The suspects are the mayor of the southwest town of Sabana Grande and the former directors of finance for the northern town of Toa Baja […]
 
U.S. Attorney Rosa Emilia Rodriguez told reporters that the former officials from Toa Baja are accused of using nearly $5 million worth of federal funds to pay the town’s public employees and municipal contractors.
 
“Not only is that illegal, it’s immoral,” she said.
 
Officials said former finance director Victor Cruz Quintero deposited some $2.5 million worth of funds from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development into the town’s general and payroll accounts in October 2014.

 
As Rodriguez say it is immoral. The people of Puerto Rico deserve much better than these detestable politicians.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
“Nothing is more essential to the establishment of manners in a State than
that all persons employed in places of power and trust must be men
of unexceptionable characters.” ~ Samuel Adams

 
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Related:
Praying for Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico city offices raided for corruption, and why is San Juan’s mouthy mayor sounding so bland?

Posted in MSM Malpractice, Unvarnished | 2 Comments

Stop the illegal flood – or kiss America goodbye

Posted on October 22, 2018

In light of the pending illegal invasion on our southern border, here’s a timely reminder on the importance of controlling the flow of immigration and maintaining national sovereignty, from PragerU featuring Michelle Malkin ~

 

 

“There is no place for the hyphen in our citizenship… We are a nation, not a hodge-podge of foreign nationalities. We are a people, and not a polyglot boarding house.” ~ Teddy Roosevelt

Posted in Unvarnished | Leave a comment

Saturday Shorts (Sunday edition) – 10-20-18

Posted on October 21, 2018

sshorts11-16-13

Random links of interest, concern or curiosity from the past week or so, that deserve at least a SHORT mention:

 
Sessions vows ’emergency’ Supreme Court battles amid ‘outrageous’ discovery rulings by federal judges ~ Speaking at The Heritage Foundation on Monday, the attorney general had some harsh criticism for judicial tyranny ~

“Too many judges believe it is their right, their duty, to act upon their sympathies and policy preferences.”
 
The attorney general blamed Obama for encouraging that approach. “One argument for activism was advocated openly by President Obama when he declared his judicial nominees must judge with ’empathy.’ It is a seductive argument. But whatever empathy is, it’s more akin to emotion, bias, and politics than law,” Sessions said.

 

65-year-old pro-lifer in hospital after being punched outside Florida Planned Parenthood ~ The violence of ripping babies out of the womb apparently comes naturally to some pro-aborts ~

“An organization that promotes violence inside is also going to promote violence on the outside,” (Fr. Michael Orsi, the parochial vicar of St. Agnes Church, Naples, FL) said. “And I think Planned Parenthood is becoming more and more desperate” between the Trump administration partially defunding the abortion giant and the impending midterm elections.

 
Washington National Cathedral To Become Pilgrimage Site For LGBT Community By Interring Matthew Shepard’s Remains ~ A young gay Wyoming man has been elevated to sainthood by our secular media. Too bad the whole “homosexual hate crime” narrative was based on a lie. (It was about drugs – not sexual orientation) ~

The interment service will be held on Oct. 26 and presided over by the Episcopal Church’s first openly gay bishop […]
 
The cathedral will likely become a pilgrimage site for LGBT activists, despite the dearth of evidence supporting the narrative that Matthew’s murder was an anti-gay hate crime.

 
Media Say ‘Time Is Running Out’ to Save Planet 30 Years After Previous Warning ~ It’s TEOTWAWKI!

“Planet has only until 2030,” said CNN. Luckily, the New York Times gave us 10 more years.
 
This time it’s another “landmark report” from the United Nations predicting “wildfires, drought, food shortage, and severe poverty across the globe.” The only solution, naturally, is more government. The U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change advises “rapid, far-reaching and unprecedented changes in all aspects of society.”

 
Arizona Democrat Kyrsten Sinema Attacked ‘Bullshit’ Stay-At-Home Moms For ‘Leeching Off Their Husbands’ ~ Running for U.S. senate in Arizona, Sinema is a real class act ~

“These women who act like staying at home, leeching off their husbands or boyfriends, and just cashing the checks is some sort of feminism because they’re choosing to live that life,” she told Scottsdale nightlife magazine 944. “That’s bullshit. I mean, what the f*** are we really talking about here?”
 
Sinema, who has come under fire recently for making derogatory comments about Arizona in newly resurfaced videos, also once described conservatives as “Neanderthals.”

 
Court: Obama Admin Dodged State Laws To Get Illegal Minors Abortions ~ As analysis from a recent California court case just revealed ~

Obama administration officials transported pregnant minors in federal custody to New Mexico to obtain abortions in order to circumvent parental consent laws in other states.

 

Hungary Bans Gender Studies Since It’s ‘an Ideology, Not a Science’ ~ If we ever need to emigrate, I think we’ll head to Hungary, where they’re not afraid to embrace reality ~

“The Hungarian government is of the clear view that people are born either men or women,” Orban’s chief of staff said in August. “They lead their lives the way they think best, but beyond this, the Hungarian state does not wish to spend public funds on education in this area.”

 
16th Journalist Killed in Mexico in 2018 ~ Outraged over the death of Islamist sympathizer Jamal Khashoggi, why aren’t the media magpies concerned about their fellow journalists in Mexico? ~

Martinez Gonzalez ran the weekly publication Enfoque in Chiapas and focused on local corruption. In August, Martinez Gonzalez posted on Facebook about his outrage after authorities allegedly ignored him when he tried to report threats received.
 
The murder of Martinez Gonzalez comes only five days after a group of gunmen shot and killed radio journalist and DJ Arturo Porcallo Eguiluz in the nearby state of Guerrero, Breitbart Texas reported. The murder also follows the September death of respected journalist Mario Leonel Gomez Sanchez in Yajalon, Chiapas. Gomez Sanchez reported on corrupt politicians and was the target of threats.

 
Youth Synod group calls Church to attend to ‘realities’ of gay ‘marriage’, surrogacy, adoption ~ Seriously? Christian doctrine is based on the eternal Word Of God – not on some consensus of 21st century young people ~

Pro-family leaders were alarmed to see the term “LGBTQ” appear in the Synod’s working document. It was the first time the term had been used in an official Church document. Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia condemned the use of the term in the document and asked for its removal.

 
Putin: Russians ‘will go to heaven’ in event of nuclear war ~ Well OK then ~

Russians will “go to heaven” as martyrs in the event of nuclear war because Moscow will only ever use nuclear weapons in retaliation, President Vladimir Putin said Thursday.

 
Another Major Victory for Religious Freedom in America ~ More than three years ago Atlanta fire chief Kelvin Cochran was fired for a men’s devotional book he had written (in no way connected to his employment), which included mentions of Biblical sexual morality. He sued the city for their intolerance and just won big ~

To add insult to the injury and madness to the circus, Mayor Kasim Reed (in 2015) explained that Cochran was fired because, “We will not discriminate on the basis of race or gender or religion or creed or sexual orientation or physical ability or gender identity.”
 
This is a line to make George Orwell proud: “Because we will not discriminate based on religion, we are firing you because of your religious beliefs!”
 
Thankfully, sanity has prevailed and religious liberty has been preserved. As the Daily Wire reported, “Atlanta To Pay Out $1.2 Million To Christian Fire Chief After Violating His First Amendment Rights.”

Posted in Everything Else | Leave a comment

Something to pass on to your “undecided” friends

Posted on October 19, 2018

JobsNotMobs

Posted in Unvarnished | Leave a comment

Khashoggi’s curious connections

Posted on October 18, 2018

Here’s a tip to help you determine the veracity of any story that pops up in the news cycle: If the mainstreams hold onto it like a tenacious pit bull, if it’s the first thing mentioned in every newscast and – most importantly – if there’s the potential to spin it to Trump’s disadvantage, it’s a safe bet that whatever narrative they’re running with is mostly a false construct.
 

When it comes to one of the media’s current obsessions – the disappearance/death of Jamal Khashoggi – Daniel Greenfield has the ugly terror truth. While it doesn’t exactly justify a grisly murder, it definitely casts a different light on things.
 
First, some actual facts, so far as they’ve been confirmed ~
 Khashoggi

Mr Khashoggi entered the Saudi consulate in the Turkish city of Istanbul on 2 October. He hoped to register divorce papers so he could marry his fiance, Hatice Cengiz.
 
He had gone into self-imposed exile in the US following the rise of crown prince Mohammad, of whom he was often critical in his columns. He also regularly lamented the direction his kingdom was taking.
 
CCTV footage released by Turkey shows the writer entering the building while his fiancee waited nearby, but there was none showing him leaving.
 
Turkey’s pro-government Yeni Safak newspaper published what it said were details from audio recordings which document Mr Khashoggi’s torture and death.
 
The newspaper alleged his killers cut off his fingers and later beheaded and dismembered him.

 
Here’s all the stuff about the journalist (from Greenfield) that the mainstreams don’t want you to know about ~

In high school, Jamal Khashoggi had a good friend. His name was Osama bin Laden.
 
“We were hoping to establish an Islamic state anywhere,” Khashoggi reminisced about their time together in the Muslim Brotherhood. “We believed that the first one would lead to another, and that would have a domino effect which could reverse the history of mankind.” […]
 

Jamal Khashoggi was not a moderate. Some describe him as the leader of the Saudi Muslim Brotherhood. The Islamist network admires Hitler and seeks to impose Islamic law around the world. Nor was he a supporter of freedom of the press. In one of his Al Jazeera appearances, he complained that the Saudi government was allowing some journalists to report positively on Israel.
 
His final project, DAWN or Democracy for the Arab World Now was meant to aid Islamists. According to Azzam Al-Tamimi, an old Muslim Brotherhood ally aiding Jamal, “The Muslim Brothers and Islamists were the biggest victims of the foiled Arab spring.” Al-Tamimi has endorsed suicide bombings […]
 

Khashoggi went on making the case for the Islamic state of the Muslim Brotherhood. He went on making that case even as the Saudis decided that the Brotherhood had become too dangerous.
 
Like his old friend, Jamal Khashoggi went into exile in a friendly Islamist country. Osama bin Laden found refuge in Pakistan and Khashoggi ended up in Turkey. The Khashoggi family had originated from Turkey. And Turkey was swiftly becoming the leading Sunni Islamist power in the region. Living in Turkey put Khashoggi at the intersection of the Turkish-Qatari backers of the Brotherhood and the Western media.

 

It also put him more and more at odds with the Saudis who, under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, are making serious strides toward moderation and reform.

 
Right now, the Saudis are a stabilizing force in the Middle East. The Security Studies Group makes the case for caution in dealing with them over the death of a Muslim Brotherhood apologist ~ The Strategic Role of Saudi Arabia; KSA (the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia) plays four critical roles in the American-led world order ~

• Resisting Iranian Domination of Oil Routes
• Influence Over a Key Faction of Islam
• Restraint of Refugee Flows into Europe
• Defense of Israel

 

On the hand, Turkey – increasingly – is not a reliable ally. Far from reforming, they’re reverting to fundamentalist Islam. Greenfield recounts the horrors of Turkey’s 2016 inhumane suppression of “dissidents” under Recep Tayyip Erdogan, pointing out the glaring hypocrisy of western journalists ~

Erdogan went after professors, judges, law enforcement, the military and the last remnants of a free press. A Human Rights Watch report documented electric shocks, beatings with truncheons and rubber hoses, and rape by Erdogan’s Islamic thugs. Heads were banged against walls. Men were forced to kneel on burning hot asphalt. Medical reports showed skull fractures, damage to testicles and dehydration.
 
The media didn’t show any of the hysterical outrage at these crimes that it has over the disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi. The media cares more about Khashoggi, a former media mouthpiece of the Saudi regime before it turned on his Muslim Brotherhood brothers, than about 300 Turkish reporters.

 
But suddenly they’re demanding retribution from the Saudis for this outrage.
 
No. What this calls for is perspective. Or, as Greenfield says, context ~

The Khashoggi case demands context.
 
Before the media and the politicians who listen to it drag the United States into a conflict with Saudi Arabia over a Muslim Brotherhood activist based on the word of an enemy country still holding Americans hostage, we deserve the context.
 
And we deserve the truth.
 
The media wants the Saudis to answer questions about Jamal Khashoggi. But maybe the media should be forced to answer why the Washington Post was working with a Muslim Brotherhood propagandist?

 

As always with the mainstreams, don’t hold your breath.
 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Related:
Why the Saudis despised Jamal Khashoggi ~

In the eyes of the young crown prince, Khashoggi symbolized the three-prong threat to his rule: the Muslim Brothers, the Turkish-Qatari axis and disaffected princes. When Khashoggi moved to America, Salman added a fourth prong: the element of the American elite that sought to downgrade Saudi Arabia’s friendship in US foreign policy […]
 
Khashoggi found an influential perch at The Washington Post, from which he launched attacks on the crown prince. One of his recent columns, for example, calls for the end of the war in Yemen, which he portrays as an abject failure. He presents the Saudi government as an indiscriminate killer of fellow Muslims and blames the failure of peace talks on its obstinacy and incompetence.

 
The US-Saudi relationship must be preserved – our national interest demands it ~

The death of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi – a critic of the Saudi government, who has not been heard from since he entered the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul two weeks ago – was a tragedy. If the facts show the government of Saudi Arabia was responsible for his death it should be held accountable.
 
But the death of Khashoggi does not outweigh U.S. strategic concerns, which require that we maintain good relations with the Saudi government. We must react accordingly – not as a favor to the Saudis, but in our own national interest […]
 
If U.S. action results in the fall of the current leadership of the kingdom, we will see a return to power of the Saudi hardliners who supported terrorism and oppression. That is in nobody’s interest […]
 
Destroying our relationship with the Saudis would result in far more deaths and suffering in the region than keeping our relationship strong. And such a move would be a great gift to the mullahs who rule Iran and lead their people in chants of “Death to America” and boast of their plans to wipe Israel off the map.

Posted in MSM Malpractice, Unvarnished | 2 Comments